Edupup’s Traffic Control Algebra asks players to review their algebra skills, while keeping crazy drivers from crashing into each other.
I was assigned to review any educational game on eduXtive, and I was really happy to find this one, and others like it, because in my experience edu minigames tend to be variations on flashcards. (Don’t get me wrong, when I was teaching ESL, I was always happy to use a flashcard game in class, and I created some of my own vocab matching games. But it’s always good to find an edu game that’s more than matching-plus-graphics.)
Do a math problem to turn on a green light and allow the cars coming from that direction to drive, and then do another problem to turn it red. The object is to try to get as many cars as possible through the intersection, without letting them crash. Apparently none of the drivers are paying attention.
The math starts out easy while players are still getting the hang of the drivers’ paths, but becomes more challenging as the game goes on, making it a good way to review middle-school math. Back in my day, we would have worksheets of simple algebra problems, and fifth-grade me would have preferred playing this game.
The game is more forgiving of math errors than car crashes. Players have up to 5 mathematical mistakes before the game ends.
You can be a little evil and just leave some drivers sitting at one corner while traffic backs up, but once there’s no place for a new car to go, the game is over. (You can also give green light in all four directions and let cars drive however they want. This play mode, inspired by drivers in the leftmost lane on 40 who suddenly realize they’re going to miss their exit, results in a big wreck. I’m just saying.)
This post was sponsored by eduXtive. The game was chosen and played by me, and obviously reactions and comments on the game are my own.
